Various processes for the catalytic hydrogenolysis of chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons are known. For example, British Patent Specification 1,578,933 illustrates that mixtures of C.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 F.sub.4 isomers can be subjected to hydrogenolysis over a particulate catalyst of palladium on charcoal (which was intimately mixed with glass helices to prevent clogging) or palladium on alumina, to mixtures of C.sub.2 H.sub.2 F.sub.4. U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,036 discloses the reaction of 1,2,2-trichloropentafluoropropane with hydrogen in the presence of palladium on activated carbon catalyst to produce 1,2,2-trihydropentafluoropropane. The examples show that under the conditions of the experiments one of the products from this reaction is CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CF.sub.2. The carbon support may be treated prior to depositing palladium on the support with aqueous HF for the purpose of removing silica from the carbon. Japanese Patent Application Publication Hei 1(1989)-319441 discloses a process where one chlorine atom is selectively replaced by hydrogen in 1,1,1-trichlorotrifluoroethane using a platinum catalyst. For comparison, a palladium on carbon catalyst is disclosed to produce 1,1,1-trifluoroethane as the major product under the conditions of the experiment.
It is well known that the hydrogenolysis of compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons to replace chlorine by hydrogen produces hydrogen chloride as a co-product and that loss of fluorine (e.g., to produce overhydrogenated products) can produce HF as a by-product.